Turning the Book Wheel
The cherry blossoms are fading, but the tulips are starting to bloom here in DC, and in our seed and nursery catalog collection.
Back cover of Everything for the Fruit Grower (1896) from E.W. Reid’s Nurseries out of Bridgeport OH. See more examples in our Seed Catalog collection.
Happy Vernal Equinox!
A little spring planting inspiration from our collection of vintage seed catalogs (via Smithsonian Institution Libraries : Front Cover SIL08-00040-1)
From Flora and Thalia; or, Gems of flowers and poetry: being an alphabetical arrangement of flowers, with appropriate poetical illustrations, embellished with coloured plates (1836) title scanned by our friends at the New York Botanical Garden for inclusion in the Biodiversity Heritage Library.
The Close of Spring
The garlands fade that Spring so lately wove,
Each simple flower which she has nursed in dew,—
Anemones, that spangled every grove ;
The Primrose wan, and Harebell mildly blue :
No more shall Violets linger in the dell,
Or purple Orchis variegate the plain :
Till Spring again shall call forth every -bell,
And dress with humid hands her wreaths again.
Oh poor humanity ! so frail, so fair,
Are the fond visions of thy early day ;
Till tyrant passion, and corrosive care,
Bid all thy fairy colours fade away ;
Another May new buds and flowers shall bring :
Ah ! why has happiness no second Spring ?—Charles Smith
Illustration of insects and flowers, from Maria Sibylla Merian’s Raupen wunderbare Verwandelung und sonderbare Blumennahrung (1730) ( “Caterpillars, Their Wondrous Transformation and Peculiar Nourishment from Flowers” ) this image is from a later translated edition of Merian’s original, which was published in 1679.
The Getty has an excellent online exhibition of some of her other work.
More embroidery (it’s a theme this week for no particular reason.) This time in color!
From Embroidery : a collection of articles on subjects connected with the study of fine needlework, including stitches, materials, methods of work, and designing, and history … by Grace Christie (1909)
